Engineering

Magazine articles on engineering and how things work.

Old Articles: <Older 571-580 Newer>

Technology Research News January 28, 2004 Kimberly Patch	Robot automates science Scientists would seem to hold one of the last occupations threatened by automation, given the brainpower and education involved. But equipping a laboratory robot with artificial intelligence software makes for a fair approximation of a scientist. Faster gene and drug discovery could result.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004 Eric Smalley	Chemicals map nanowire arrays There are two challenges to getting nanowire arrays ready for prime time -- finding ways of accessing any particular nanowire junction, and connecting the devices to the outside world. Chemically modifying the right junctions could solve both problems.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004 Eric Smalley	Badge controls displays A small computer worn around the neck like a conference badge is the key component of a system that makes sure that nearby monitors and computer screens show you what you want to see. Taking the badge in hand turns it into an input device. The idea is to make the environment more responsive.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004 Kimberly Patch	Neural-chaos team boosts security The best way to send a secret message is to scramble it with a random code, and an excellent source of randomness is chaos. The trick is sharing the randomness only with intended receivers. Grafting chaos and neural networks makes this possible, even over public channels.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Inkjet goes 3D Just as color printers are becoming status quo, a new technology may enable something more -- three-dimensional desktop printers.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Nanotubes tied to silicon circuit Connecting minuscule nanotube transistors to traditional silicon transistors enables the atomic-scale electronics to communicate with existing electronic equipment.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Micro tweezers have ice grip Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found that cooling things down makes for a simple way to rotate, twist, stretch, pick up and drop a wide range of microscopic items.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Nanorings promise big memory Researchers have found a way to cause magnetic cobalt nanoparticles to spontaneously assemble into rings that are less than 100 nanometers across. Because the molecule is small, memory made from it could hold a great deal of information.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Protein orders semiconductor bits Researchers working to make structures at the size-scale of molecules are tapping self-assembly techniques found in nature. Researchers have found a way to construct fairly complicated nanostructures by combining a genetically engineered form of the protein cohesin with quantum dots.
Technology Research News January 28, 2004	Technique detects quantum state Researchers from the University of Rome in Italy have pushed theorized "perfect" quantum cryptography schemes forward by demonstrating a method for detecting quantum entanglement among subatomic particles.
<Older 571-580 Newer> Return to current articles.